Hole boring machine



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 1952 G. CONNORS noun BORING MACHINE Filed April 1a, 1948 INVENTOR.

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G. H. CONNORS HOLE BORING MACHINE Oct. 21, 1952 Filed April 16, 1948 G. H. CONNORS HOLE BORING MACHINE Oct. 21, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 16, 1948 I &%/Qi:f: i BWM Oct. 21, 1952 Filed April 16, 1948 G. H. CONNORS HOLE BORING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Oct. 21, 1952 -George' H; Connors, Edgerton, Wis.,* assignor to Highway Trailer flompany Edgerton, Wis.,-a

' corporation Application April 16, 1948,"Sei'ia1 N0.' 21,'389

I SClaims.

Mypresent invention embodies improvements in earth hole boring machines of the general type depicted in United States patent of Erdahl, No. 1,921,812, dated August 8, .1933, andSpowart Patents 1,511,433, dated October 14,1924, and

1,531,266, dated March 24, 1925.

The improvements made by me include provisions such that the customary boring bar or shaft carrying the boring auger may perform its hole sure operated'means to. supplement the action of the positive ratchet feed instrumentalities, or work independentlyof the. latter, for causing the boring operation of the auger.

Other special features of my invention include novel operating mechanism to eifectfeed reversal of the auger'to raise the same from the bored hole, under ordinary conditions of use,

without varying the operation of the input power 1 drivingmeans of the augenand when such action 4 involves special diiiiculty, other control mechanism that may be used with which to compel such auger withdrawal operation.

' My invention involves additional novel detail features of construction and operation of my boring unit, all of whichwill later beset forth fully herein. 7

In the accompanying drawings forming apart of my application, the several figures are described as follows: Figurel is a side viewlookingtoward the. rear .end portion of a truck upon which theboring mechanism of my invention is mounted.

Figure ,2 is 'a rear elevation showing very largely the same structureas is depicted in Figure 1, certain of the rear wheels of'the truck omittedandthe chassis broken away.

Figure 3 is atransverse vertical sectional view taken largely through'the boringheadandenclosed gear mechanism and auger "rackand through the intermediate gear housing located at one side of the boring head.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectionalview showing more clearly the upper 'end of the auger moving rack bar, and illustrating the piston carried'by said upper end andoperating in the. guide 'pipe which is mounted to extendupwardly from the boring head.

FigureqS is a view somewhat similar to Figure 1, with the parts enlarged, showing the main "supporting housing for the boring mechanism, same carried by the chassis of thetruck on which the unit is mounted, the clutch and brake casing modified arrangement or housing portion of the supporting housing being broken away to show the clutch and brake features in section; also the intermediate housing associated with the boring head being broken away to show the arrangement of the driving shaft at its front end, and the driving gear carried thereby. Figure 6 is an enlarged view broken away, showing more particularly the boring head, said head having the housing portion thereof broken away to show the intermittently operated pawl lever and toothed ratchet wheel engageable by the pawls of said lever; also some otherdetails are shown in this view, including a portion of the brake lever and a portion of the trippin and actuating lever for the latter, said pin in upraised condition.

Figure 7 is-ahorizontal sectional view through the rotating carrier for the rack bar of the auger, the view being taken about on theline '!'l of Figure 8. 1

Figure 8 is a view largely in elevation, showing the carrier unit alone and bringing out more clearly the mounting of the trip lever for the ratchet pawls, the associated ratchet wheel, and thebrake drum unit which forms a part of said carrier unit in that the brake drum unit is associated with said carrier unit.

Figure 91s a View similar to Figures, looking at the carrier unit from a direction opposite to that seen in the view Figure 8, bringing out more clearly the mounting of certain gears whichare ,supported on the carrier unit to rotate bodily therewith and with the rack bar, the lower portion of the carrier unit being brokenaway.

Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view taken about on the line I 0-H] of Figure 8 and bringing out more clearly the mounting means for the ratchet lever, and certain detent means cooperating with the springs by which the ratchet lever is maintained normally in a certain position.

Figure 11 is 'a fragmentary view showing a of one of the gears of the drive gearing.

Describing my invention specifically, reference is had primarily to Figures 1,2, and 5 of the drawings hereto annexed. As seen in these figures, my boring mechanism comprises aunit which is adapted to be mounted upon the rear end of the chassis l of a suitable power driven truck, or tractor, rear wheels 2 of which"'are shown. My boring unit is suitably supported on the truck chassis I by cross beams 3, and com prises essentially a main support housing 4 at the inner end of which is mounted an input'shaft 5 having the exposed drivepinionfi meshing with a gear '1 on a power take-o'fishafts which 'is adapted to be connected"with"a powertake on unit-associated with the transmission of the truck 3 or automobile chassis by which my boring mechanism is carried. The input shaft 5 is adapted to be connected to a longitudinal drive shaft 9 within the support housing 4 by means of a clutch 10 of the multiple disc type, the discs of which are adapted to be actuated by a throw collar H on the shaft 9 shiftable by means of the yoke 12 on a transverse shifting shaft 13. Shaft 13 is adapted to be rocked by an arm 14 connected by link I3 with the bell crank lever 16 operable by an actuating link rod shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 at 11 movable longitudinally by I an operating arm 18 on the hand lever 19 which is located adjacent to the auger 20 of my boring mechanism.

The clutch shifting collar 1! also cooperates with brake means comprising multiple discs 21 coacting with the shaft 9 through the provision of the clutch and brake hub 22 connected to said shaft 9, and in the operation of the hand lever 19 application of the clutch means 19 is effected incident to release of the brake means 21, and application of the brake means 21 will simultaneously effect a release action of the clutch means 19. In the above manner, by use of the lever 19, power is transmitted fromthe input shaft 5 to the driving shaft 9 by rendering the clutch means I!) operative, and discontinuance of the drive on the shaft 9 is effected by release of the clutch means It]. Stopping of the shaft move- -ment of shaft 9 may be effected, of course, by

the brake means 21, and the normal position of the shift member or yoke 12 is at neutral, which involves a corresponding maintenance of the hand lever 19 in neutral position.

The driving shaft 9 of my boring unit extends at its outer end into an intermediate gear housing or case 23 having rotatable mounting connecjmovable door and bearing plate 28 on the free outer end of the gear case 23, the gear 26 carried by the shaft 21 may be readily reversed from the position in which it is shown in Figure 3, to the position illustrated in Figure 11, so that the gear 25 'on the shaft 9 may drive the shaft 121 in reverse directions, depending upon the.

emplacement of the gear 23 in connected relation to the shaft 21 in either position shown in Figure .3 or that shown in Fig. 11. The purpose of this reversible mounting adaptability of the gear 26 will appear later herein.

Associated with the intermediate gear case 23 at the end thereof opposite the removable door plate 28' is the boring head or housing of my boring unit, the same designated 29 and shown best in Figures 3, 5, and 6 of my drawings. The boring head 29 is hollow and therefore forms a housing for certain mechanism of my boring unit. It is mounted in a rotatable manner upon the adjacent end of the intermediate casing 23 by the rotative connecting portions of the head 29 located at 39, see Figure 3, the axis of the rotative connection 30 being concentric with the axis of the auxiliary drive shaft 21, just as the rotative connection 24 between the stationary supporting housing 4 and the intermediate gear 4 case 23 is located such that its axis is concentric with the shaft 9.

In a general manner the above relation of the mountings of the gear case 23 on the supporting housing 4 and the mounting of the boring head 29 containing certain of the boring mechanism upon the intermediate gear case 23 are features of the present machine quite well known in the art as disclosed in prior patents of Spowart, No. 1,511,433, dated October 14, 1924, and Erdahl, No. 1,921,812, dated August 8, 1933, upon which type boring machine construction my present invention improves. The purpose in the relative mountings of the support housing 4, intermediate casing 23, and the boring head or housing 29, is to deal with conditions of actual use of the auger boring instrumentality-ZO. In boring holes, the surface of the ground immediately adjacent the place where the hole is to be dug is sometimes sloping, and the supporting vehicle or machine for my boring unit cannot readily be properly positioned for making a vertical boring. Under these conditions the entire boring head with its auger is made adjustable about a pair of horizontal axes disposed transversely of each other to provide universal adjustment of the auger 20. One of these axes is the longitudinal axis of the support casing 4 and the shaft 9, and the other axis is the axis, practically speaking, of the intermediate casing 23 comprising the shaft 21 about which th rotative connecting features of construction, designated 39, are disposed. The above adjustments also permit of boring holes at an angle when the occasion necessitates. The adjustment is made about an axis extending longitudinally of the machine and notably the axis of the housing 4 when the boring auger 20 is to be disposed at an angle lateral to the longitudinal axis of the machine, and the adjustment of the boring head 29 for the above purpose is effected by the use of th segment 31 attached to the rear portion of the intermediate casing 23, operable by a worm 32 having a square ended shaft for application of a turning handle thereto. After a known manner, the boring head 29 at its side adjacent to the intermediate casing 23 is equipped with a worm segment 33 engageable by a worm 34 carried by the intermediate case 23 and also having a square ended turning shaft for application of a suitable handle for turning, whereby to adjust the boring head in forwardly and rearwardly extending directions at a desired vertical angle in a plane longitudinally of the vehicle or machine on which the boring mechanism is mounted. As previously indicated, the foregoing features of relative adjustment of the boring head about a pair of horizontal axes disposed transversely to each other is known to the art, especially by reference to the Erdahl patent previously referred to, and forms no special feature of the present invention.

The auger 20 is supported by a boring bar or shaft 35, the cross section of which is preferably square, see Figure 7, and at one side of said bar areprovided teeth36 forming a rack.

My boring bar 35 extends vertically through the boring head 29 and is directly received in a rotary thrust plates 41 On a middle approximately horizontal flange 42 surroundingthe carrier body 31' is secured a carrier driving ring gear 43 of the bevel type. This gearis fixed to the carrier flange 42 and the teeth of the gear mesh with those of the driving pinion M and which is suitably keyed to-the reduced inner end of theauXiliary driving shaft 21 in the gear case 23. The thrust plates 39 and, Min the body 31 of the carrier provide virtually square sockets in which the square cross section body of the boring bar 35 is snugly received, and held so that the boring bar may freely slide longitudinally of the carrier 31. Owing to this constructional feature of the receiving means on the carrier 31, forthe boring bar 35', it 'is evident that as the carrier 31 is rotated by the driving action of the auxiliary shaft 21 and the meshing gear-s44 and 43, the boring bar 35 will be correspondingly rotated and this rotation should be in a clockwise direction by reason of the nature of the pitch of the screw portion of theauger' 2B which penetrates the ground or earth incident to the-rightwise or clockwise rotation of the auger. Underthese conditions, therefore, the drive of the carrier 37 must always be in a clockwise direction looking downwardly on the boring unit, irrespective of the direction of the drive taken off from the transmission of the vehicle which carries the boring unit. The proper direction of rotation of the augershaft or bar'35 mayreadily be maintained, as derived from the shaft 9, the latter being turned in one direction 01' the other by reason of the adaptability of the gear 26 to be placed in either the position shown inFigure 3 or that shown in Figure 11, inrespect tothe gear 25 of the shaft ill The purpose of the reversible arrangement of gear mentioned, is thus explained.

Now according to the improvements of my present invention, it is' contemplated that the boring bar 35 shall be adapted to gravitate downwardly in and through the carrier 31 under normal'conditions of boring operations. It is deemed sufiicient, under such conditions, to rely upon considerable weight of the auger 2B and that of theboring bar 35 to cause the earthp enetration f the auger 28 under usual conditions of digging.

In'view of the last foregoing mode of functioning of my present inventionI am enabled to eliminate certain of the drive gearing that is employed in machines of the type of my invention as disclosed in the Spowart and Erdahl patents referred to, by, which gearing down feeding of the auger into the earth is produced,,also certain gearing employed in standard type clutches used in prior machines of said employed.

According to my present invention, instead of employing the continuous operating speed gearing heretofore generally used for the operation of the boring bar 35 in its boring action, I employ certain speed gear means for the boring bar also cooperating with the rack teeth 36 of the latter, but susceptible of being intermittently operated at the will of the operator of the machine, when and if digging power supplemental to that of the weight of the boring barand the auger is found necessary to be employed. With the" foregoing iii-view, my'intermittently and manually controlled means for applying digging effort to earlier type need not be the auger contemplates the employment of certain ratchet feeding mechanism shortly to be described. 1 i t In addition to the feature of the supplemental positive ratchet feed mechanism referred to l '26, as previously above, it is known that atftimes, when obstaclesare met with in the earth in whichfthe=bore hole is being made, very powerful digging diiveofthe auger is required to be resorted to. With this in mind, therefore, for digging in hard or'frozen ground, or when digging if at an angle'when' the force of gravity of the auger andathe boring barf is notsufficient, the auxiliary ratchet feeding tioned, andnote, as seen in Figuresl and ivof my drawingsparticularly, that I utilizethe customaril employed guidetype 01' tube li projecting upwardly from and secured to the boring head 29, asa piston tube, thesame receiving the.

piston 46, see Figure 4, afijxed. to thetop 811G101? the boring bar'35- so that-when hydraulicor other fluid pressure is admitted to the upper endof'th'e guide tube-45 and applied to theupper surface of' the piston 46, the-piston and boring bar 35 will be subjected to'the pressure of "said fluid; .to forcethe auger it into the earth being bored. In this manner, by using thefiuidpressureon the piston t6, I may apply a supplemental digging force to the auger 20 additional to the gravitative force generated by the weight of the auger and said boring bar. In Figure l of thedrawingsythe conduit 41 which supplies the pressure fiuidto the upper end of the guide and piston tube is shown, but since hydraulic or pressurefiuid' sup-- ply means for suchfconduit 41 may be of any known types, including the necessarypump valve, reservoir, and conduit connections, the'latter are not shown and described, being no part of my present invention. l l l a i l i I now refer to my intermittently usable and preferably ratchet feed type feeding instrumentalities for positively feeding the auger 20 to its work when recourse to-such supplemental-feeding means is desirable. A "On the upper portion of the boringhead 29, designated 29a, is mounted for vertical sliding movement a trip pin 48. normally upraised by means of a spring 49. At its upper end thetrip pin is connected pivotallyat '50 with an operatinglever 5| located conveniently to the operator of the boring unit when in use, he usually standing near the rear end of the truck and at one side of said unit. The lower end of the trip pin 48 enters the housing of the borin head 29 and may be moved downwardly variable distances dependent upon the pressure on thehand lever 51, in order to engage with the upper end of a trip or ratchet in suitable bearings of anextension 58 projecting from the carrier 31. On its endopposite that carrying the ratchet wheel'55 the shaft 51 sup.- ports'aspur pinion 59 which meshes with asimilar spur pinion 60 on another shaft Gil-supported in suitable bearing means and also carried by the carrier 31. The spur pinion or gearfifl is an integralpart of a combination spur gearand bevel pinion. unit which comprises the bevel pinion 62 I 7 arranged at the outer side and connected with the hub portion of ,thepinion 60.

Below the pawl 55 and mounted also on a pivot shaft 64 carried by the lower end of the ratchet lever 52 is a second feed pawl 65, one end of which is also adapted to engage the ratchet wheel 56 uponrocking of the lever 50 to turn the wheel 56. in a direction opposite to that in which it is turned by the ratchet pawl 55.

Between the tails of the pawls 55 and 65 is interposed a spring 66a normally expansible to hold the pawls in predetermined normal positions as fixed by means of set screws 61 supported on a suitable boss 68 adjacent to the axis shaft 53 of the lever 52. The pivot shaft on the lever 52 provided for the pawl 55 is designated 64a and is similar to the shaft 64 except in one respect now to be pointed out. The outer end of the shaft 64 for the pawl 65 is formed with a head having a depression therein, shown in Figure 10, and a hollow detent pin 66 is adapted to enter said depression for the purpose of generally maintaining, by its detent action, the lever 52 in a normal vertical position. The lever 52 is assisted in maintain-c ing such position by having coil springs 61a connected at their outer ends to posts 68a and connected at their inner ends to opposite sides of the lower end of the lever 52 as shown clearly in Figure 8, in which the outer bearing boss for the lever pivot shaft 53 is omitted in order to clarify this illustration.

As seen in Figure 10 the body portion of the lever 52 is of considerable width to provide an inbearing member 69 that is vertically parallel with the out-bearing body portion of the lever 52, the parts 69 having the bearings for the inner ends of the pivot shafts 64 and 64a of the pawls 65 and 55, respectively. The detent pin 66 is held in place by a screw plug 10, and the spring I I pressingon the detent 66 causes cooperation of the detent 66 with the lever since the normal tendency of the detent is to seek its true central seat in the end'of the pin or pivot member 64 to overcome any slight difference that may be present in the tension of the respective two springs 61 used for centralizing the lever 52 in its vertical normal position.

I With the construction of the last described means in mind, it is obvious that as the carrier 31 is rotated by the driving action of the auxiliary driving pinion 44 engaging the ring gear 43, should the operator desire to bring into action the supplemental ratchet feed means for the boring bar 35 and its auger 20, the trip pin 48 may be pressed downwardly by means of the lever 5| so as to have its lower end projected into the path of the upper end of the lever :52. Assuming that the carrier 31 is rotating in the directionof the arrow IA shown on Figure 8 as the ratchet lever 52 is carried around rotatively with the carrier, it will be struck'or tripped by the trip pin'43 hitting the said upper end of the lever 52 on its left side to rock the lever 52 on'its pivot shaft 53 each time the lever 52 ishit by pin 58, thus tilting the lever 52 in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure 8 and operatingthe pawl to cause 'it to engage and rotate the ratchet wheel 56 in a clockwise direction together with the shaft 51 on which the ratchet wheel 56 is keyed; On this shaft 51'intermediate the ratchet wheel 56 an d the spur pinion 59 is mounted a driving pinion keyed to the shaft 51 and the teeth of which pinion are in mesh with the teeth 36 of the boring bar 35.

Under the foregoing conditions of operation, so long as the pin 48 is held down for causing engagement thereof with the lever 52, a feed movement of the pinion 12 (see Figure 7) will be imparted to the borin ar in a downward direction each time the lever 52 strikes the downwardly maintained pin 48. The greater the distance down the pin 48 is moved, as limited by ultimate full compression of spring 49, the greater will be the throw of the lever 52, and the downward movement of the bar 35. Thus the intermediate ratchet feed of the bar 35 for supplementing the gravitative and/or pressure fluid actuating feed actions of the auger may be resorted to at the will of the operator. I

The foregoing description thus deals with the boring operation of my machine in three ways. viz, first, by boring operation incident to auger gravity feed; second, by use of the fluid pressure feed to supplement that of the gravity feed; and, third, by use of the intermittent ratchet feed to be employed with the gravity feed alone, or when availing of the gravity feed plus the pressure fluid operating feed, depending on the working conditions of resistance to boring operation.

The means for withdrawing the auger from the bored hole will now be set forth, of which certain parts hav already been mentioned herein. Said means includes a rotating sleeve or hub 75 having a bearing race 76 with suitable antifriction bearings between said race and bearing races 11 surrounding the lower portion of the carrier 31, the said rotating hub 15 being free to rotate independently of the carrier 31. On the upper end of the hub 15 is secured, by means of bolts, an idler gear 18 which is operative to function under certain conditions for effecting the withdrawal of the auger from the bore hole.

, Said idler reverse feed gear 'lBhas its bevel teeth in mesh with the corresponding teeth of the bevel gear 62 previously referred to as carried by the axis shaft 6| on the carrier. At the lower end of the rotating hub 75 said hub is formed with a brake drum 19 with which cooperates anormally expanded brake band 80 adapted to be tightened about the drum 19 by means of a hand lever 82 seen best in Figures 2 and 3, said lever being arranged externally of the boring head, carried thereby, having its handle located in a convenient manner to the operators station which usually will be at one side of the boring head upon the ground adjacent to the machine.

When sufficient earth has been dug to reach the bottom of the hole, and while the auger is loaded, the operator will allow the auger to continue rotation, release the pressure feed action on the piston 46 and raise the lever 5i and trip pin 48, if either or both of the above feed instrumentalities are being used, and thereupon apply the brake 30 to the brake drum [9. This will cause the idler reverse feed gear 78 to be held stationary while the carrier assembly continues to revolve in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Figure 8. The reversing idler gear 18 now becomes a stationary circular rack on which the bevel end gear 62 will rotate in the direction of the arrow B as shown on Figure 9. The rotation of the gear 62 by turning gear 66 will cause the latter to rotate the gear 59 and therefore the shaft 5'l-and the rack feed gear 72 in the direction of the arrow C in Figure 9, thus causing the chain of gears just described to act so that the gear 12 will feed the boring bar 35 upwardly by reason of the meshing engagement of the teeth of the gear 72 with the teeth 36 on the boring bar 35. The upward feed operation of the boring bar incident to the action of the stationary re- When the auger 2n clears the top of the new,

i the load of dirt or other material carried thereby being no longer restrained, sidewise by the wall soilor dirton theauger is of a nature that'causes it to stick to the auger instead of leaving the same by centrifugal action, the operator of the machine, by applying thedisc brakejl, see Figure 5, may cause the rotation of theauger to suddenlystop, and the sudden stoppagewill effectively dislodge the load brought upwardly from the hole by theauger. Of course, the application of the brake means 2| involves the automatic throwing out of the clutch means ID in amenner previously described herein. I

Reverting, to the matter of the driving of the input shaft 5, it is noted againthat earth boring :units of the type of myinventioniare installed on various types of vehicles, and various types of power take-oils are employed. The power output shaft of a given vehicle transmission unit may revolve motorwise, while that of another unit may revolve counter motorwise. Since the -auger .Zil mustrevolve in the same direction, clockwise, regardless of the direction of the rotation of the power out-put shaft, the reversal of the position of the gear ,26 asshown in Figure .3 to that shown in Figure 11, accommodates for the use of myinvention with either motorwise or counter motorwise out-put power take-off shafts.

Under certain conditions it is desirable to feed I the rack bar 35 upwards with maximum power eilort,-as when the auger 20 becomes hooked under an obstruction or is loaded to the extenttha-t itcannot be'raised in the usual manner ,byapplication of the brake 80. Under such conditions, the operator will reverse the direction of auger rotation by means of the vehicle transmission gearing from which the power take-off leading to the input shaft 5 is taken. In addition the carrier 31 will b operated in a direction reverse to that shown by the arrow A' in Figure 8. Thereupon the trip pin 48 may be lowered and will strike the right hand side of the ratchet lever 52, shifting the latter at its upper end to the left as seen in Figure 8, and thereby causing the reverse actingpawl 55 to turn the ratchet wheel '56 in a direction opposite to the turning action which is produced by the operation of the pawl 65. Such action will ofcourse result in rotation of the feed gear 72 coacting with the teeth or the gravity feed of the auger and boring bar, a considerable amount of wear and tear incident to the use of special feed gearing is avoided since alarge portion of such gearing may be dispensed with and such portion as is used does not have .to' be put into action except under difilcult digging conditions.

A guide and bearing roller 85 works against of the hole will ordinarily leavethe auger by reason of centrifugal force. If, however, the.

the side of theboring bar 35 opposite that engaged by the drive pinion 72, see Figure 7.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to securelby Letters Patent of the United States, is:

, lhIn an earth boringmachine, aboring head,

a rotating carriertherein; a boring bar mounted inthe carrier for rotation therewith and for substantially non-retarded reciprocation therein wherebythe weight of said bar in conjunction with an auger carried at the lower end thereof is capable of effecting a downward gravity feed, drive means for rotating said carrier, optionally operative means comprising a rack on said bar and a pinion on said carrier for supplementing said gravity feed, means for rotating said pinion comprising a ratchet wheel keyed thereto and pawlmeans for. actuating said wheel, said ratchet wheel .and pawl means, being mounted on said carrier and rotative therewith, a, motivating means mounted on said boring head and engageable with said pawl means by said rotation for intermittently driving said pawl means to actuate said ratchet wheel and said pinion to feed said bar downwardly.

2. In an earth boring machine, aboring head, a rotating carrier therein, a boring bar mounted in the carrier for rotation therewith and for substantially non-retarded reciprocation therein ing said gravity feed, means for rotating said pinion comprising a ratchet wheel keyed thereto and a pawl element engageable withsaid wheel, and pivotally secured to a lever having pivotal connection with said carrier, said lever thus revolving with, said carrier about the axis thereof,- said wheel and pawl element being mounted on said carrier, and rotative therewith, a motivating means comprising a plunger mounted on said boring head and engageable with said pawl element, said plunger being manually movable into the path of traverse of said lever. for rocking the same about its pivot with each rotation of said carrier, to actuate said pawl element and said ratchet wheel and pinion to feed said bar downwardly.

3. In an earth boring machine, a boring head, a, rotating carrier therein, a boring bar mounted in the carrier for rotation therewith and for substantially non-retarded reciprocation therein whereby the weight of said bar in conjunc tion with an auger carried at the lower end thereof is capable of effecting a downward gravity feed, drive means for rotating said carrier, optionally operative means comprising a rack on said bar and a pinion on said carrier for supplementing said gravity feed, means for rotating said pinion comprising a ratchet wheel keyed thereto and a pawl element engageable with said wheel, and pivotally secured to aleverhaving pivotal, connection with said carrier, said lever thus revolving with said carrier about the axis thereof, said wheel and pawl element being mounted on said carrier, and rotative therewith, a motivating means comprising a plunger mounted on said boring head and engageable with said pawl element, said plunger being manuallymovable into the path of traverse of said leverfor rocking the same about its pivot with eachrotation of said carrier, to actuate said pawl element and said ratchet'wheel and pinion .to feed .said bar downwardly, 'and'an additional pawl element engageable with said ratchet wheel at a diametrically disposed point with respect to said first pawl element, said additional pawl'ele- .ment being pivoted to said lever to a point which is oppositely disposed to the connection with said first pawl relative the pivotal connection between said lever and said carrier, for effecting reverse rotation of said ratchet wheel when the rotation'of said carrier is reversed, said bar being raised thereby.

4, In an earth boring machine, a boring head, a rotating carrier therein, a boring bar mounted in the carrier for" rotation therewith and for substantially non-retarded reciprocation there- ,in whereby the weight of said bar in conjunction with an auger carried at the lower end thereof 'iscapable of effecting a downward gravity feed, 'drive' means for rotating said carrier, optionally operative means comprising a rack on said bar and a pinion on said carrier for supplementing said gravity feed, means for rotating said pinion comprising a ratchet wheel keyed thereto and a pair of pawl elements for actuating said izwheel, said ratchet wheel and pawl elements being mounted on said carrier and rotative therewith, and a-motivating'means mounted on said boring head and en'gageable with one of said pawl elements by rotation in one direction of said carrier for intermittently driving one of said pawl elementstoactuate said ratchet wheel and said pinion to feed said'bar downwardly and engageable with the other of said pawl elements 'to raise said bar upon reverse rotation of said :1

carrier;-

5. In an earth boring machine, a boring head,

' a rotating carrier therein, a boring bar mounted in the carrier for rotation therewith and for substantially non-retarded reciprocation therein whereby the Weight of said bar in conjunction with an auger carried at the lower end thereof is capable of effecting a'downward gravity feed, drive means for rotating said carrier, optionally operative means comprising a rack on said bar and a pinion on said carrier for supplementing saidgravity feed, means for rotating said pinion comprising a ratchet wheel keyed thereto and a pawl element engageable with said ratchet wheel and an actuator therefor mounted on said carrier 1 for rotation therewith, and a motivating means mounted on said boring head and engageable with said pawl element by rotation for intermittently driving said pawl element to actuate said ratchet wheel'and pinion to feed said bar down- Jtatable as said pinion rotates, said pinionand gear means being normallly idling and revolving with said boring bar about the axis of said car- "rier, a second gear means meshing with said first gear means and normally idling therewith, including brake means in the head for stopping rotation of said second gear means to effect a reaction for forcibly rotating said first gear means, whereby said pinion is positively rotated for reciprocating saidrack, and additional means for effecting rotation of said feed pinion, comprising a mechanism mounted on said carrier and rotative therewith but normally stationary with respect thereto and being connected to said pinion so as to be' capable of effecting rotation thereof, including a manually controllable mechanism mounted on said boring head and being optionally engageable with said mechanism on said carrier to effect operation of said mechanism for positively rotating said feed pinion.

'7. In an earth boring machine, a boring head, a'carrier rotatably mounted in said head, a boring bar mounted in said carrier and rotatable therewith and slideable therein, a rack on said bar, a feed pinion engaging said rack and mounted on said carrier, 3, first gear means rotatable as said pinion rotates, said pinion and gear means being normally idling and revolving with said boring bar about the axis of said carrier, a second gear meansmeshing with said first gear means and normally idling therewith, means for mounting said second gear means comprising a bearing mounted axially within said carrier and supported thereby, a brake drum carried by said bearing, and a brake band surrounding said drum and carried by said boring head, including manual means carried by said boring head for actuating said brake drum for stopping rotation of said second gear means to effect a reaction for forcibly rotating said first gear means, whereby said pinion is positively rotated for reciprocating said rack.

8. In an earthlooring machine, a boring head, a rotating carrier therein, a boring bar mounted in the carrier for rotation therewith and for substantially non-retarded reciprocation therein whereby the weight of said bar in conjunction with an auger carried at the lower end thereof is capable of effecting a downward gravity feed, including a drive means for rotating said carrier, and further including optionally operative means comprising a mechanism mounted on said carrier and rotative therewith but normally stationary with respect thereto, said mechanism being coupled to said pinion and capable of effecting rotation thereof, and a second mechanism mounted on said boring head and manually operative to engage said first mechanism intermittently as said carrier rotates, for driving said first mechanism to rotate said pinion and thus effect feeding of said bar, supplementing said gravity feed.

GEORGE H. CONNORS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Smith June 10, 1947 

